1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to bioelectrodes applicable to body parts of living subjects to detect electrical signals and for similar purposes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Despite a wealth of existing bioelectrodes and prior-art proposals for their improvements, there persists a need for a type of bioelectrode that is more suitable to mass production with modern techniques and equipment and that is less expensive to its end user while maintaining the performance characteristics of high-quality prior-art electrodes. Some prior-art proposals which have tended in that direction, such as those propounded in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,464,404 and 3,518,984, by R. E. Mason, issued Sept. 2, 1969 and July 7, 1970, respectively, were, nevertheless, unsuitable because of such factors as dissipation of electrolyte through the back of the bioelectrode and generation of artifactitious signals and extrusion of electrolyte, with concomitant contamination of the adhesive or attachment surface, through lack of physical stability. More recent prior-art endeavors thus again tended in the direction of the more expensive and complex cup-type electrode design. This despite the availability of pouch designs in other areas, such as seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,556,105, by L. B. Shepard, issued Jan. 19, 1971, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,669,119, by P. S. Symmes, issued June 13, 1972, and of bioelectrode design features as for, instance, apparent from U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,170,459; 3,187,745, 3,545,432; 3,610,229; 3,606,881; 3,659,614 and 3,669,110, and from French Pat. No. 1,163,803, by Electromedica.